Delft University of Technology
Green air conditioning
Using indoor living wall systems as a climate control method
Armijos Moya, Tatiana; van den Dobbelsteen, Andy; Ottele, Marc; Bluyssen, P.M.
Publication date 2017
Published in Rehva Journal
Citation (APA)
Armijos Moya, T., van den Dobbelsteen, A., Ottele, M., & Bluyssen, P. M. (2017). Green air conditioning: Using indoor living wall systems as a climate control method. Rehva Journal, (3), 27-31.
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I
n the current world, people spend on average 80%- 90% of their time indoors; consequently, the risks to health may be greater due to indoor air pollution than to outdoor air pollution. Doctors around the world face lots of complains about the fact that people feel sick because of the misuse of air conditioning system within their offices and they pay very expensive bills every year, so they can work in a “comfortable place”. In many cities across the world, the air-conditioning system has become an essential instrument to achieve indoor comfort within most of the buildings. Thus, it is important that engineers, designers, manufactures and all the professionals involved in keeping a good the indoor environment explore new alternatives to improve the current systems since there is an increasing energy requirement for cooling and air-conditioning of buildings in cities, rising indirectly, the urban heat island (UHI) and climate change. Nowadays, Living Wall Systems (LWS) are an emerging technology that utilize the potentials of plants in living environments, regarding the fact that there is an instinctive bond between human beings and other living systems within nature (Figure 1). Using plants as design elements in working environments brings nature inside to create warm and inviting spaces that reduces stress, oxygenate the air, and increases your overall well-being, resulting in healthier work and living areas that decrease absen-teeism, increase productivity and overall satisfaction and happiness in people’s lives.Green Air Conditioning
– Using indoor living wall systems as a climate control method
This article seeks to present an optional cooling tool based on the integration of a Living Wall System (LWS), a fan and a dehumidification process (desiccant) to reduce the use of an HVAC system. This study showed that it is possible to use the evapotranspiration of plants for air-cooling and humidity control.Keywords: Indoor Environment, Climate
control, Living Wall System, Evaporative cooler, Biofiltration.
Figure 1. Living Wall System, Quito, Ecuador. TATIANA ARMIJOS MOYA
Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture and The Built Environment Delft, The Netherlands
T.E.ArmijosMoya@tudelft.nl
ANDY VAN DEN DOBBELSTEEN
Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture and
The Built Environment Delft, The Netherlands
A.A.J.F.vandenDobbelsteen@tudelft.nl
MARC OTTELÉ
Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, The Netherlands M.Ottele@tudelft.nl
PHILOMENA M. BLUYSSEN
Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture and The Built Environment Delft, The Netherlands
P.M.Bluyssen@tudelft.nl
Some studies have shown that common indoor plants may provide a valuable strategy to avoid rising levels of indoor air pollution and cleaning the air inside buildings through biofiltration and phytoremediation (Wolverton, 1989); and it provides a natural way of helping combat Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) (Fjeld, 2000). Besides, it has been shown that it is possible to use the evapotranspiration of plants for air-cooling and humidity control around the plant environment (Davis & Hirmer, 2015). The use of vegetation as tools to improve the overall indoor environment is a field that needs more research to prove the real impact of the different green systems in the indoor environment; therefore, this project aims to conduct a multidisci-plinary research to explore, validate and evaluate the efficacy in terms of indoor comfort within office envi-ronments of LWS climate control systems.
I am Tatiana Armijos Moya, I come from Quito, Ecuador where I got my degree as an Architect at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador. I worked at the University for two years as a researcher in sustainable design. In 2015, I got my diploma as a
Master of Science Specialized in the field of Building Technology in the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, TUDelft. Currently, I am PhD candi-date within the Green Building Innovation Research Group also at TUDelft with the guidance of my super-visors; Prof.dr.ir. Andy van den Dobbelsteen, Prof. dr. ir. Philomena Bluyssen, and Dr.ir. Marc Ottele.
Evaporative coolers
Plants absorb water and nutrients from the environ-ment and carry them from one zone (leaves) to another (roots) where their roots represent a hanging system. For instance, epiphytes, tropical plants such as English Ivy, Peace Lily, Reed Palm, Boston ferns and Tillandsia, are plants that get their water from the air instead of through their roots. They are common houseplants that filter the moist out of the air thus reducing exces-sive humidity levels. Regarding temperature control, the evapotranspiration from plants contributes to the lowering of temperatures around the environment. In this study, some strategies where reviewed and a proto-type was built to evaluate its performance within a hot humid environment.
Figure 2. Diagrams of the alternatives for LWS. (Armijos Moya, 2016)
Water Pump Fan System Water Collection Greenhouse Effect Cooling in the back side HVAC System Solid Dessicant Moisture Absorption Air Exchange through the glass
Air Exchange through the glass
Water Pump Fan System
Water Collection
Biophilia Indoor Air
Quali-ty Reduce SBS
Cooling in the back side The system
re-quires extra energy to get through the growth medium Increase Pro-ductivity Noise Control HVAC System Solid Dessicant
Articles
It was considered that a highly humid climate reduces the effect of the living wall system substantially, acting as an evaporative cooler; therefore, it was necessary to integrate a dehumidification process within the system. Several dehumidification processes and strategies were analysed where desiccant dehumidifiers appeared to be more suitable to apply in this system because it can be regenerated, and it be used again. In fact, for future applications, it may use waste heat to regen-erate. Desiccant dehumidifiers have several benefits, such as providing humidity control, removing bacteria and other micro-organisms and they can use waste heat to regenerate, as mentioned before. Regarding these factors, it is proposed to use calcium chloride (CaCl2)
as a desiccant dehumidifier because of its properties in control of relative humidity, its flexibility, and size particles, residual water produced (Lewis, 2002). As mentioned before, a prototype was built (Figure 3b) to examine the construction system and climate behaviour of the system. The prototype was assem-bled as a plug-in system constituted by a wooden box (0.60 m x 0.60 m) with mineral wool and cotton as
growth media that provides a structural system for the plants to grow in and it must have the perfect balance between porosity, aeration and water absorption capacity. Furthermore, a fan (15 W, 230 V, 50 Hz) was integrated in the bottom part of the system. This allows cooling down the air before it enters the air gap behind the substrate, because the air passes over the water
Figure 3. Prototype. a) Diagram of the LWS Design, b) LWS scaled Prototype and Data logger location, c) Section.
Water Pump Cooling in the
back side Biophilia
Indoor Air Quali-ty Reduce SBS Increase Pro-ductivity Noise Control HVAC System Solid Dessicant Water Collection Inside 5 3 2 Outside 4 1 1.50 m
Dessicant with remov-able plastic bucket Drip Line
Air gap 145mm Plenum
Aluminum Alloy Frame 5mm
12 Module of steel mesh with Selected Growth Medium (600mm x 600mm)
Fan System with Acoustic Protection Drainage Metal Trellis
Base Cabinet with Removable Cover Irrigation System Selected Indoor Plants HVAC Connection 1800 600x600
Articles
Biophilia
Architecture
There is an instinctive bond between human beings and other living systems within the nature. Back-to-earth, back-to-nature
Indoor plants as architectural element define space, provide privacy, screens unpleasant views and provide new ones.
Engineering
Indoor plants can be used as traffic control, glare reduction or acousti-cal control.
Psychological Values Plants can reduce stress, improve self-image, teach long term values, provide links between past and present.
Cultural and Social Values Plants are an integral part of people’s viasual arts. Plants provide a topic of conversation. They offer the pride of possession.
Environmental Values Plants can clean the air, water and soil of pollutants, produce oxygen, and may help reverse the green-house effects.
Light Intensity
Requirements:
Indoor plants must be tolerant of low light intensities
Relative Humidity
Indoor plants prefer a relative humidity level of between 50-70% to perform well.
Temperature
Indoor plants generally are adapt-able to interior temperature ranges.
ºC % Indoor Plants Growth Medium Water-holding ability Physical Properties Aeration Porosity
It is the sum of the space in the macropores and micropores It is the percentage of total pore
space that remains filled with air after excess water has drained It is the percentage of total pore
space that remains filled with water after gravity drainage.
Bulk Density pH
Bulk density means weight per volume.
Fertility and CEC
CEC of a growing medium reflects its nutrient storage capacity and it provides an indication of how often fertilization will be required.
Chemical Properties
pH
The main effect of pH on plant growth is its control on nutrient availability
Improve Indoor Air Quality Reduce SBS
Increase Productivity
Benefits:
Figure 4. Indoor Plants: Benefits and Requirements.
storage of the system. This location of water allows a better cooling effect within the system and it allows an easier maintenance. The selected desiccant (CaCl2) was
placed in the top of the air cavity to dehumidify the air before it leaves the system to the outside (Figure 3). The evapotranspiration from this living wall, the fan and the desiccant working together contributed to the lowering of temperatures around the planting environment. To build an optimum system, some requirements were taking in account to select the type of plants to be used, such as light conditions, climate conditions and growth medium. Consequently, non-pollinating and, medium- and low-light-tolerant plants, and an inorganic growth medium were used (Figure 4).
Regarding all these aspects, spider plants and anthu-riums were tested during this evaluation because they are epiphytes, which are plants that absorb moisture from the environment to get their nutrients. The plants were pre-grown and re-pot within the LWS to allow them to adapt to the new growth medium. Irrigation is provided at different levels along the prototype, using a drip irrigation method using gravity to let water flow through the growing media.
Conclusions and recommendations
for further research
After the evaluation, the system presents several positive results such as reducing the temperatures around the system with a green climate control method (LWS) which generate pleasant and healthier environment. Some challenges were faced during the study. First, the rise of relative air humidity (RH) in the areas with plants is one of the major issues. In fact, a highly humid climate reduces the effect of the LWS acting as an evaporative cooler; thus, it was necessary to integrate a dehumidification method within the system, in this case a desiccant material, to control the moisture level in the environment. Subsequently, it seems that this green climate control system will reduce the load on the HVAC system more significantly in a dry hot climate due to the natural evapotranspiration of the system; thus, not needing a dehumidification process at all. On the other hand, the air conditioning system is like the lungs of any building. It draws in outside air, filters it, controls and maintains the temperature, humidity, air movement, air cleanliness, sound level, and pressure differential, circulates air around the building, then expels a portion of it to the outside environment. However, it is in constant competition between the air cooled and
air circulated. Air must be circulated to ensure a good air quality, but the air conditioning unit relies on a closed cycle, where if new air is brought in it needs a greater amount of cooling. Therefore, it is expected that this method will have important effects on the amount of energy used by a standard HVAC system regarding that recirculating the air through the LWS will omit the process of cooling outdoor air because the indoor air will already be at the required temperature and humidity level. It is recommended that for further applications the building where the system in going to be integrated should incorpo-rate a solar thermal collector or a gas heater to help regen-erating the desiccant. What is more, the desiccant-based air conditioning systems, in general, also use a humidifier as part of the process because the air inside sometimes is too dry. Therefore, this system will most likely help to decrease the loads for humidifiers as well.
There is still a lack of solid and significant figures available to understand all the possible benefits of an active LWS as a climate control system such as the true pollutant-removal mechanisms, and even more the effect of these systems within the energy performance of the building. For forthcoming studies, this system is going to evaluate the possibility of reducing the levels of indoor pollution through phytoremediation and biofiltration.
References
Davis, M., & Hirmer, S. (2015). The Potential for Vertical Gardens as Evaporative Coolers: An adaptatioon of the ‘Penman Monteith Equa on’. Elsevier, Building and Environment, 135–141.
Fjeld, T. (2000). The Effect of Interior Planting on Health and Discomfort among Workers and School Children. HorTechnology , 46–52.
Lewis, G. &. (2002). The Dehumidification Handbook. Amesbury: Munters Corporation: Dehumidification Divition. Wolverton, B. (1989). Interior Landscape Plants for indoor Air Pollutioon Abatement. NASA.
Use of plants to remove pollutants from the air, water and soil. Plants have been shown to uptake air pollutants via their stomata during normal gas exchange.
Biofiltration: the process of drawing air in through organic material (such as moss, soil and plants), resulting in the removal of organic gases (volatile organic compounds) and contaminants with a mechanical system involved.
Phytoremediation
